la dow



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No' Model.)

J. LA DOW. BALING PRESS.

No. 373,076. Patented Nov. 15, 1887.

' Invenqw W tnesses:

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

J. LA DOW.

BALING PRESS.

No. 373,076. Patented Nov'. 15,-188'7.

. Znesses: 6161M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN LA now, F TRUMANSBURG, NEW. YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GREGG & 00.,

OF SAME-I PLACE.

BALlNG-PRESS.

spncrrrcarron forming part of Letters Patent No. 373,076, dated November15, 1887. 1 Application filed September 10, 1885.. Serial No. 176,713.(No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN LA DOW, a citizen of the United States,residing atTrumansburg, in the county of Tompkins and State of New k,have invented a new and useful Baling-Press, 'ot'which the following isaspeci- .fication The objects of my present invention are to provide animproved mechanism for automatically disengaging the motiv e power andallowlng'the follower to make its return stroke; to provide an improvedmeans for retaining the bale when freed from the follower, thus allowing the bale to be tied while the compressionr 5 chamber is beingrefilled; and to provide two removable firm basesagainst which thepartially and wholly formed bales are alternately compressed. I attainthese objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in whi'ch-- Figure 1 is a top view of the entire machine. Fig. 2 is anelevation of the same, with a part of the wall of the baling chamberbroken away, showing a part of the completed bale within. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal vertical section on the line 1 2 of Fig. 1, also showingthe shifting bell-crank lever, which is in front of the section-plane.Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the releasing mechanism, partly insection. Figs. 5 and 6 are longitudinal horizontal sections ofa partofthe billing-chamber on the line 3 4 of Fig. 2, respectively, showingthe bale wholly and partially made. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of theretaining-strips.

3 5 Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The frame-work of my press consists of four heavy longitudinalbcains,A,similarly placed on the two sides of the press, and suitablyconnected by ties, struts, and cross-beams. To the inner sides of thisframe-work the sides of the bailing-chamber M are attached, thus forminga rectangular inclosure for receiving the loose material, and in whichthe same is compressed. The top of thelarger portion of this chamberthatportion intended to receive the loose material-is inclosed by door f,hinged at one end to'the sides of the hopper m, and provided at theother end with a handle, g, which is formed into a catch adapted to hookover the end of the hopper, and thus support the door when closed. Thehopper may be considered as a vertical extension to that part of thebaling-chamber inclosed by the doorf. The top of this hopper is formedby flaring or funnelshaped sides. The objects of this construction areto facilitate the work of feeding the loose material into thepress-chamber, and by closing the doorf confine the same while be ingcompressed.

A strong door, Z, adapted to open and close the end of thebaling-chamber, is hung to bolt 1*, which is securely attached to beamsA on one side of the press. For locking the door, bar 1-, which issecurely attached to'beams A 65 on the other side of the press, hashinged to it, by straps t, the bolt .9, which'is bent at right angles atits upper end so as to form a handle. When the door I is closed, theboltsis adapted to be swung about bar 1- until it passes behind thecross-bars of the door, thus securely looking it, as shown in Figs. 1and 2.. The strapst are attached to bolt .9, close. to the cross-bars ofthe door on either side, so as' to relieve bolt s of unnecessary strain.

The'followerp, which is adapted to reciprocate within thecompression-chamber, is

provided with a number of deep horizontal grooves, 3 extending acrossits face. Retaining-strips D, equal in number to grooves y, narrowtoward their free ends, and are suitably connected and held the samedistance apart as said grooves by two bars, D, extend ing through andsecurely attached to them near one end. Each strip has a longitudinalgroove, D, along the same edge. The vertical sides of thebaling-chainber are provided withlongitudinal slots 0, in the samehorizon- 'tal planes as grooves y, and extending nearly or quite fromthe plane of the inner face of 0 door I, when closed, to and beyond theplane of the face of the follower p when at the end of its forwardstroke, a distance equal to or a little greater than the widths of theretaining strips where they pass through the respective sides of thebailing-chamber, the slots thus being shorter on one side of the pressthan on the other to compensate for the difierence in the widths of thetwo ends of the retaining-strips. When the retainingstrips are pushedthrough the slots 12 and grooves y, so as to occupy the position shownin Fig. 5, they are restrained from moving backward or away from'doorlby resting against stops 1;, which in the pres ent case consist of thatpart of the frame-work forming the ends of slots 2) at the sides of thefollower. In this position the retaining-strips, by thus beingrestrained, prevent the bales expansion when freed from the follower,and while the bale is being tied and the compression-chamber is beingrefilled with loose material. When the bale is forced from the balingchamber, the retaining-strips are free to move to the other ends ofthe slots, or until they occupy the position shown in Fig. 6, when theyare restrained from further move ment in this direction by coming incontact with stops if, which consist of that part of the frame formingthe ends of slots 2:, adjacent to door Z. In this latter position theretainingstrips form an intermediate removable base between the face ofthe follower when at the end of its forward stroke and the face of doorZ when closed, against which the partiallyformcd bale is compressed.While forming this latter function the retaining-strips can. be insuredagainst breakage by closing and locking the door 7, whose inner facewill then form a central support to the retainingstrips.

The follower p is actuated by the togglejoint I) b, one arm of which ishung to the follower and the other to the upper corner of the frame.When the press is in operation, this peculiar way of hanging the togglecauses stresses that tend to distort the f rainc-work, to resist whichthe diagonal tiesiv, together with other ties and struts, connect theupper and lower beams A A.

The toggle-joint may be operated by chain a or other flexibleconnection,one end of which is connected to the pin of the togglesknucklejoint, the other to the drum d, which is rigidly attachcdto itsshaft mounted in bearingsj on the upperbeams, A. Drum dis of the form ofatruncated cone, the chain nbeingconuected to the larger end, thusincreasing the leverage as the chain is wound on the drum toward thesmaller end. The ends of the drum-shaft project beyond theframc,-atfording on oneend a bearing, on which the initial drivingwheela and pinion c, which are rigidly attached to each other, or made of onepiece, are so hung as to turn freely, and on the other end the gearwheeli is rigidly attached. Gear-wheelt' and pinion e respectively mesh intopinion 7i and gear-wheel g, which are rigidly attached to the ends ofcounter-shaft c c. As a result of this combination of gearing, thedesired velocityratio between the initial driving-wheel a and.

drum dis obtained.

The mechanism by which the press is thrown into and out of operation isof a peculiar construction, as follows: As shown in Fig. 4, the

counter-shaft consists of two parts, 0 and 0,

whose ends bear closely together. The sleeve I, which fits onto theadjoining ends of both parts, is rigidly attached to the part cand pro--vides along bearing-{for the end of the part 0, thus allowing the'twoparts to turn independently of each other and at the same time retaintheir axes in the same straight line. This sleevebearing may belengthened by a circular concentric tongue on the part c,fitting into acorresponding recess in the part c. On the part of the shaft 0, whichcan turn freely in sleeve I, is asccond sleeve, a, which is free to movelongitudinally on the shaft, but is restrained from turning on the sameby a feather or spline in the usual manner. The adjacent ends of thesleeves I and a are provided with claws which are adapted to engage witheach other and transmit the motion of one part of the shaft to the otherand operate the press. A clutch is thus formed which can readily bethrown into and out of operation by the axial movement of sleeve u.

The twoparts of the shaft are restrained from separating by the sleeve Iand collar (1/, fitting closely to the adjacent bearings.

The axial movement of sleeve a, by which the clutch is thrown intoandout ot'operation, is imparted to it by the bifurcated bell-crank lever-0, which is pivoted to the bracket a,

which is securely bolted to one of the upper beams, A. The forks of thelever 0 are provided with inwardly-projecting lugs which extend into-thecircumferential groove in sleeve a. One of these forks extends upwardand slightly over the hopper m, and provides a handle by which theoperatorean conveniently throw the clutch into and out of operation.When the clutch is thrown into gear, the lower arm, 0', of lever 0,which is bent at an angle to the upper arm, extends into or across thatpart of the path of toggle-arm I) which said arm occupies when thefollower has nearly reached the forward end of its stroke.

The advantages of this construction are, first, it allows the lever 0 tobe pivoted in a position conveniently operated both by the toggle-armand by the operator; second, by disengaging the mechanism at this pointthe follower can make its return-stroke without reversinganyofthegearingbetween this point and the initial driving-wheel.

The process of making the bales and the method of retaining the samewhile being tied will be fully cxplainedwith the operation of the press,which is as follows: The doorf being opened, the doorl closed, and thefollower p in the position shown in Fig. 3, the loose material is throwninto the hopper m, and by its weight and the assistance ofthe operatoris transferred to the baling-chamber below. The tapering retainingstrips D are pushed through the slots 0 with the grooved edges towardthe door Z. The doorf is now closed, and the operator, who convenientlystands on it to hold it down, throws the clutch in operation by thelever 0." The power required to operate the press, being applied to thedriving-wheel a, is transmitted through the intermediate gearing and thenow coupled shaft 0 c to the drum d, A

causing it to revolve and wind up the chain 12, thus drawing up thetoggle-arms, which force the follower along the baling-chamber and thuscompress the, charge against the retainlug-strips D, which rest againstthe frame atthe ends of the slots i2, as shown injFig. 6. W hen thefollower has nearly reached'the end 5 of its forward stroke, the arm 12impinges against arm of lever .0, and thus imparts'to this lever amotion that throws the clutch I u' out of operation. Ihe drum at nowbeing free, the weight of the toggle-arms causes them to drop and returnthe follower to its normal position; (Shown in Fig. 3.) The retainingstrips are now withdrawn, and through the spaces they occhpicd the tyingwires are passed, a new charge is put into the baling chamber, and thecl ntch .throwninto operation, as before. This charge is firstcompressed against the immediately-preceding charge, Th en as thepressure against the latter becomes sufficiently great it is forcedalong the ballingchamber until it hits the locked door Z, which preventsits further movement,'and against which the balance of the compression,which is the greater part, is effected. When the follower hassufficiently nearly completed its forgrooves y in the face of thefollower, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. Now, as the clutch is automaticallythrown out of operation and the fol-. lower recedes as before, thecompletely-formed bale is prevented frotncxpanding by theretaining-strips D,'which rest against the frame at the end of theslots12.

While the baling-chambcr is being refilled the' tying-wires may bepassed through the grooves in the retaining-strips and tied, thuspermanently securing the bale in form. The door Z is now opened,and asthe nextroharge is compressed the completed bale is forced alon g 40 thebaling-chamher and expelled from its mouth,which iscnlargedmsshown inthe drawings, to facilitate the dropping of the bale,immediately afterwhich the door is closed and locked. Coincident with the expulsion ofthe bale the retaining-strips are forced to the ends of slots 12,adjacent to door Z, where they are retained and afford a base forthefirst section of the new bale to be compressed against, as

before.

It will be observed that the mainfunctions of the retaining-strips are,first, to retain the completed bale against expanding when released .bythe follower, thus enabling the presschamber to be refilled while thebale is being ward stroke, the retaining-strips D are again passedthrough the slots 2) andtransverse thejtrain of. gearing consisting ofgear 1', rigidly attached to the drunrshaft, )inion h and gear 9,rigidly attached to the remote ends of two-part shaft 0 c, and loosepinion'e, suitably hung and adapted to meshi'nto gear g, of drum.d,'two-par t shaft cc, and clutch I 'u, whereby said two-part shaft canThe coupled and uncoupled, substantially as described. 7 2. In abaling-press, the combination,with a bailing-chamber, afollower,toggle-arms for reciprocating the same,- and means foractuating the toggle-arms,of bell-crank levero 0, which is.

pivotally hung to the press-frame, and one of whose arms ,o,'ezttendsinto the path of one of the toggle-arms, while its other arm, 0, is.adapted to shift sleeve u. substantially as described. V v p "3. In" abailing-press, the shafts c 0", forming the central elements of themechanism for transmitting the power from the initial driving-wheel todrum d, in combination with sleeve I, rigidly attached to one of saidshafts and providing a bearing for the other, and sleeve a, which isrestrained from all but an axial movement on the shaft that can turnfreely in sleeve I, bothof said sleeves having their adjacent facesprovided with claws, whereby the sleeves are-adapted to engage v. witheach other, substantiallyv as described.

4; In a baling-press, the combination, with a baling-chamberhavingslotsin two of its opposite sides, and a follower adapted to reciprocatewithin the same, of two. firm bases against which are alternatelycompressed the partially and wholly formed bales, said bases consistingone of a door hinged at one side of the balingchamber and adapted toopenand close the mouth of said chamber, and provided with, 5 suitablemechanism for locking the door when closed, the other ofretaining-strips suitably connected and extending through said slots-andacross the bailing-chamber, combined with stops provided at the sides ofthe baling- I 0 chamber, and against which said retainingstripsrestwhile forming an intermediate base bet-ween'said door whenclosed andthe follower when at the end of its forward stroke, substantiall y asdescribed.

5. In a 'baling-press, the combination of a baling-chamber having slotsor apertures-in two'of its opposite sides, afollower, having, deepgrooves extending across its face, retain ing-strips adapted to beinserted through said 0 slots and gi'ooves, stops located at oppositesides of the follower when at the end of its forbali ng-chambenafollowerhaving deep grooves 3 extending across its face, a door hun'g'at the endof the baling-chamber and. adaptedto open and close the mouth of thesame, two setsof stops, which, beinglocated; the one set at either sideof the follower when at the end of its forward stroke, the other in ornear the the follower by resting against one set of said stops, and,secondly, to provide a removable intermediate base between the face ofsaid door when closed and the face of the follower when at the end ofits forward stroke, and against which the partially-formed bale iscompressed, substantially as described.

7. Ina baling-prcss', the combination of a billing-chamber provided withslots 1 a follower having deep grooves 31 extending across its face,stops co, and retaining-strips D, suitably connected together, saidstrips being tapered toward their free ends, whereby they are moreeasily thrust through and withdrawn from the bailing-chamber,substantially as described. I

8; In a baling-prcss, the combination, with a balingchamber and followeradapted to reoiprocatewithin the same, of two firm but rcmovable bases,against which the partially and wholly formed bales are alternatelycompressed, one of said bases being located between the other and theface of the follower when at the end of its forward stroke,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribedmy name.

JOHN LA DOW.

Wi t messes:

F. P. BARNARD, R. H. STEWART.

